Other Stuff > Misc / Open

My first ride on the 400/4 more like an Ealing Comedy!

<< < (11/15) > >>

Nurse Julie:
Well done Ted 👏👏👏👏👏

Spitfire:
Nice one Ted I remember wobbling around the Wirral on my bike after spending 2 years doing it up and 10 years working overseas and not being able to ride a bike at all, it does get better promise.

Cheers

Dennis

McCabe-Thiele (Ted):
Thank for the comments & words of encouragement to everyone who has posted on this subject.

This morning I did a run to Ashbourne & back primarily on the A52 this section is a two way road with a 50 mph limit along most of it so my speedometer now reads 32 miles in total. I managed to get into top gear on the odd section but found myself having to drop down to third gear on the very hilly sections to retain anything close to 40/50 mph. The ride remided me very much of my old Honda 250 Dream S.S. that would loose speed on a flat road with a head wind unless I dropped a gear or two.

I did feel as though I was riding a moped not a four cylinder 400 cc Honda. Not sure if I have some fueling issues as opening the throttle fully did not seem to make it go any faster up a slight gradient dropping a gear seemed the only way to maintain 50 mph for most of the journey. I'm a tad under 15 stone so I do not think  it's my weight. I know I can't compare it to my XJ900 but I feel a bit underwhelmed today in terms of performance.

On one de-restricted section of my route I managed 60 mph in 5th but the approaching bend meant I could not safely go any faster. Luckily the current lack of performance suits me as I build up my riding confidence, I feel pretty sure my float levels might be too low or the in line fuel filter is causing me an issue. I am minded to get a few more miles on the clock before I start tinkering with things - a check of the spark plug colour might be a starting point.

I might try a run on the local dual carriageway to see if I can build up to somewhere near 70 mph in top gear assuming the revs at that speed are below 6k.

Despite all this I had a huge grin on my face when I arrived back home.

SeanFD:

--- Quote from: mike the bike on May 29, 2022, 08:18:50 PM ---I once bought a 400four that needed a lot doing to get it going.  After a week of fettling,  it was time to test it.  The battery wasn't up to much in the way of spinning the engine so a mate offered to assist.  My road had bit of a downhill slope to it, which helped.
Sitting astride the bike, in 2nd, clutch in, my mate pushing for all his worth, I let the clutch out and.....
Huh?  What?
I hadn't refitted the chain 😀

--- End quote ---

Laughed out loud! Who hasn’t done something similar?

Nurse Julie:
What you have described above Ted is exactly how my 400/4 was after the engine rebuild. The engine felt heavy, tight and slow (in comparison to how it felt before the rebuild). It took a good 500 miles for things to start loosening off and even then, the performance was not staggering. But, all of a sudden, at about 1200 miles IIRC, the engine loosened off and she was a flying machine. Regular up and down the gearbox is a normal state of affairs for the 400/4 even when fully run in. At this stage, with your bike, regular gear changes are advisable. Just keep riding it and I'm sure it will perform better as you increase the mileage.
If you read the last knocking of my rebuild thread, I explained there how and at what mileage it started loosening off.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page